World

ByCompiled from wire service reports by Robert Kilborn and Ross AtkinOctober 31, 2005

Acting quickly, police in New Delhi arrested 22 suspects after the Saturday night bombings of two crowded outdoor markets. At least 61 people died and 188 others were hurt in the attacks. A previously unheard-of Kashmiri militant group calling itself Islami Inqilabi Mahaz claimed responsibility and warned of further attacks. But security experts doubted the authenticity of the claim. They said only Pakistan-based organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohamad have the organizational ability to carry out such acts. They suggested the bombings were aimed at affecting relations between India and rival Pakistan, which have been improving as they cooperate in the wake of the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in Kashmir.

In an unrelated blow to India, the number of deaths from a train derailment Saturday rose to at least 109 people. Rescuers raced to try to free scores of others still trapped inside seven coaches that plunged into a river in Andhra Pradesh State after flooding collapsed a bridge just as the train reached it.

Israeli officials and Islamic Jihad agreed to a truce after almost a week of violence triggered by the latest terrorist bomb attack. But the government of the Jewish state said operations against the Palestinian militant group would continue "until they cannot carry out any more" bombings. An adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon alleged that Al Qaeda operatives have infiltrated the Gaza Strip and are working with the Palestinian militants.

As police armed with tear gas kept watch, thousands of bitter opposition-party supporters in Ivory Coast's capital protested the cancellation of the election for president that was to have been held Sunday. Similar demonstrations were held in other cities. President Laurent Gbagbo, who said the nation is still too torn by civil war for the vote to be held, is serving under a one-year emergency extension of his term. He was to discuss the matter in an address to the nation Sunday night.

A meeting of Congress was set for Wednesday in Bolivia to try to resolve a potential crisis caused by cancellation of the Dec. 4 national election. In calling it off late last week, the National Electoral Court blamed the failure of legislators to redraw voting districts. Labor and farmers' unions vowed to block the nation's highways until a new date is scheduled. Bolivians have ousted two presidents in as many years, and interim leader Eduardo Rodriguez has said he'll step down in January even if a vote for his successor has not been held.